NEW ORLEANS, LA --- The Moravian College men's & women's track & field teams are both ranked in the Mideast Region in the fourth NCAA Division III Regional Team Index of the 2013 indoor season released by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Wednesday. The Greyhound women are ranked second while men are in sixth place in the top-ten regional rankings.
The Greyhound women, who were third in the region a week ago, have a total of 148.48 points. Johns Hopkins University is currently first in the Mideast Region with 370.23 points while Misericordia University is third at 123.50 points and Lebanon Valley College is fourth at 123.43 points.
The Greyhound men have a total of 147.30 points, remaining in sixth for the second straight week. Haverford College leads the Mideast Region with 260.54 points while Carnegie Mellon University is second at 208.55 points. Messiah College holds down the third spot with 17.58 points while Gwynedd-Mercy College is fourth at 153.18 and Johns Hopkins is fifth with 152.23 points.
To view the full rankings, visit http://www.ustfccca.org/assets/rankings/div3/2013-itf/NCAAD3_2013_indWk4_TF_RegionalIndexTop10.pdf.
Moravian will return to action on Saturday, February 16th when the Greyhounds are set to travel to a pair of meets, the Princeton University Invitational and the Coach I Open hosted by Franklin & Marshall College.
About the Rankings
For more on the national team rankings and links to guideline and rationale information visit … http://www.ustfccca.org/rankings/division-iii-rankings
Rankings are determined by a mathematical formula, which is based on current national descending order lists. This is what's used to compile a team's ranking. The purpose and methodology of the rankings is to create an index that showcases the teams that have the best potential of achieving the top spots in the national-title race.
The Regional Index is determined using a similar method as national rankings, but on a smaller scale, comparing teams versus others within the same region. The result is a ranking that showcases squads with better all-around team potential — a group makeup critical for conference or similar team-scored events. A team may achieve a better regional ranking than a counterpart that has a better national ranking. Historically, some teams are better national-championship teams than conference-championship teams, having a few elite athletes that score very well in a diverse environment where teams do not have entries in more than a few events. Some teams are better at conference championships or similar team-scored events where they enter, and are competitive, in many of the events.
How a team fares in a national championship, conference championship, or scored meet with only a couple or few teams (like a dual or triangular) can be very different, given the number of events, competition, scoring, and makeup of entries — thus the rationale behind each of the ranking systems. Similar arguments about team makeup and rankings can also be found in swimming & diving and wrestling as their sports also have a similar trichotomy when it comes to team theory.
